Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, 79, dies: All you wanted to know about former Jammu and Kashmir CM in 15 points

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, 79, was proclaimed dead today in Delhi after a brief illness. From an obscure lawyer to becoming the only Muslim Home Minister of India, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed carved out a niche for himself in national and Jammu and Kashmir politics with the unwavering focus of an avid bridge player that he was. Here is all you wanted to know about the Jammu and Kashmir CM in 10 points:

1. In a political career spanning nearly six decades, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed emerged as a rival power centre to the mighty Abdullahs (father son duo of Farooq and Omar), always playing his cards close to his chest, while making friends with other parties following conflicting ideologies to suit his political agenda.Image Caption: Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying homage at the mortal remains of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed at Palam Airport, in New Delhi on Thursday (PTI)

2. The high-points in the political journey of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who would have turned 80 on January 12, was his being catapulted to the chair of free India's first Muslim Home Minister in 1989 and, years later, becoming the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir for a second time in 2015, heading a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had its first brush with power in the only Muslim-majority state. Image Caption: President, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti arrives after hearing about the demise of her father and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed at AIIMS in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI)

3. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's stint in the Home Ministry, at a time when militancy had begun to rear its ugly head in Jammu and Kashmir, would, however, be most remembered for the kidnapping of his third daughter Rubaiya by JKLF. The militants demanded freeing of five of their comrades in exchange for Rubaiya's freedom and let her off only after their demand had been met. The kidnapping and subsequent release of the militants, according to Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's rivals, projected India as a 'soft state' for the first time. Image Caption: Peolple pay tributes to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayed, who passed away in Delhi at AIIMS, in Jammu on Thursday. (PTI)

4. Born in Baba Mohalla of Bijbehara in Anantnag district on January 12, 1936, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had his early education at a local school and graduated from S P College, Srinagar. He went on to obtain a law degree and Master's degree in Arab History from Aligarh Muslim University. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed cut his political teeth early, having joined the Democratic National Conference of G M Sadiq in the late 1950s. Sadiq, recognising the potential of the young lawyer, appointed him as the District Convenor of the party. (Image Source: PTI)

5. In 1962, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was elected to the state assembly from Bijbehara, the seat which he retained five years later. He was appointed a Deputy Minister by Sadiq, who by then had become Chief Minister. However, he fell out with the party a few years later and joined the Indian National Congress, a courageous but risky decision at that time given the unstinted support of most Kashmiris to Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, who was in jail. (Image Source: PTI)

6. Considered an astute organiser and administrator, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed ensured that Congress not only got a foothold in the Valley but created pockets of staunch support for the party. In 1972, he became a Cabinet Minster and also Congress party's leader in the Legislative Council. He was made the state Congress president a couple of years later. (Image Source: PTI)

7. As he rapidly grew in stature, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed saw himself as the next Chief Minister of the state. However, all hopes he might have harboured of occupying the hot seat were dashed when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi entered into an accord with Abdullah and facilitated his return as chief minister after a hiatus of 11 years, much against the wishes of Congress workers in general and Sayeed in particular. Not the one to give up easily, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed engineered a coup of sorts ahead of the 1977 elections as Congress withdrew support to Abdullah's government. The aim was to have a Congress Chief Minister, which would have been Sayeed, in place for elections to control the official machinery but Governor L K Jha brought the state under Governor's rule. (Image Source: PTI)

8. It was the first time that Jammu and Kashmir was brought under Governor's rule. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed would later play a role in imposition of Governor's rule on all five occasions during his epic political career. The results of 1977 Assembly elections all but killed Sayeed's dream of becoming the Chief Minister as Abdullah's National Conference came to power with a thumping majority. Sayeed was a key player when Governor's Rule was imposed for the second time in the state in 1986. (Image Source: PTI)

9. The National Conference and Abdullahs have privately held Mufti Mohammad Sayeed responsible for the intra-party rebellion against and subsequent dismissal of Farooq Abdullah by Governor Jagmohan in 1984. The power tussle between Farooq and his brother-in-law G M Shah led to a permanent estrangement and also saw the latter becoming Chief Minister with Congress support. However, Shah's tenure also did not last long as Congress headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed withdrew support to his government leading to imposition of Governor's rule for the second time in 1986. (Image Source: PTI)

10. When militancy broke out in Kashmir and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became the Union Home Minister, he appointed Jagmohan as Jammu and Kashmir Governor despite protests by Farooq Abdullah, who resigned and the state came under Governor's rule again in 1990. While the state was brought under Governor's Rule in 2002 and 2014 due to Sayeed taking time to thrash out coalition dispensations with Congress and BJP respectively, it was his manoeuvrings that saw a democratically elected government give way to administration by the Raj Bhawan in 2008. (Image Source: PTI)

11. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's PDP withdrew support to coalition government headed by Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad in July 2008 following widespread protests over the Amarnath land allotment row that pitted the people of Hindu-dominated Jammu region against the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley. (Image Source: PTI)

12. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's stay in national politics was relatively short. As Farooq Abdullah warmed up to Rajiv Gandhi in 1986 to ensure his return as Chief Minister ahead of the 1987 assembly elections, Sayeed was shifted to Delhi and appointed as the Union Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation. He quit as tourism minister in 1987 and later co-founded Jan Morcha with V P Singh, who had quit Congress over the Bofors scandal. In 1989, he won the Lok Sabha election from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh as a Janata Dal candidate and became Union Home Minister in V P Singh's cabinet. (Image Source: PTI)

13. Towards the end of P V Narsimha Rao's tenure as Prime Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed returned to Congress fold with daughter Mehbooba Mufti. Sayeed won the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in 1998 general elections, while Mehbooba became Congress MLA in 1996. With his dream of becoming Chief Minister of the state still unfulfilled, Sayeed parted ways with Congress and floated a regional outfit - Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) - in 1999. Some of the things associated with the PDP are considered exemplary of Sayeed's political genius. The green flag and pen-inkpot election symbol of the PDP were lifted straight from the Muslim United Front (MUF) - the Jamaat-e-Islami-led conglomerate of anti-National Conference, anti-Congress parties in 1987 assembly elections. (Image Source: PTI)

14. Though MUF received wide public support in the Valley, it had only four seats to show. Its symbols found ready acceptance in the Valley as PDP made significant gains and won 16 seats in the 2002 assembly elections. Although way short of majority in the 87-member house, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed managed to bargain with Congress and secure a three-year stint as the Chief Minister on rotational basis. Sayeed was sworn in as the ninth chief minister of state on November 2, 2002 - fulfilling a long-standing dream. (Image Source: AP)

15. The wily politician, who enjoyed good relations across the political spectrum at national level, saw his PDP grow to 21 seats in 2008 Assembly elections but surprisingly decided to sit in the opposition. The youngest party in the state continued to gain in strength as it not only won all the three Lok Sabha seats in the Valley in 2014 general elections but also emerged as the single largest party in the state elections later in the year. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became the unanimous choice for Chief Minister when PDP and BJP reached an agreement to form a coalition government and took oath on March 1, 2015. (Image Source: PTI)